Hargreaves will remain an employee, but will no longer play a role in the running of the company; he said he wished to spend more time with family and friends, and focus on “outside interests”. Markets responded by driving down Hargreaves Lansdown shares by 4 per cent during early trading – by the afternoon, shares had climbed slightly, but remained down at 1,207.00p (from a previous close of 1,237.00p).

Long-viewed as fundamental to the firm’s rise from a small, private Bristol company in 1981 to a publicly traded entity in 2007, Hargreaves stepped down as chief executive five years ago, but remained a member of the board until today. He remains the largest single shareholder in Hargreaves Lansdown, holding a 32 per cent stake as of February this year.

“Having founded this business with Stephen Lansdown in 1981, Peter has been instrumental to the success of the Group and has personally overseen its development into a financially secure, profitable, client focused, FTSE 100 business,” said current Hargreaves Lansdown chairman Mike Evans.

“I am sure we will continue to benefit from his experience and insight as both an employee and a major shareholder. On behalf of the board and indeed the whole group, I would like to express my gratitude to Peter for his immense contribution to the group to date.”

In his resignation statement, Hargreaves said he believed the time was right for him to step down from the board. “The group continues to perform strongly and I have every confidence in the strong management team and the well diversified Board to look after my interests in the group.”

“I will continue to work in the business, but will spend more time with my family and pursuing outside interests. I will, of course, remain in close touch as a major shareholder.”